Case Gymnasium has been shrinking ever since it opened 35 years ago, but the Boston University athletes who call it home wouldn’t have it any other way.
Opened in 1972 as a 1,800-seat facility, the growing popularity of America East basketball has rendered BU’s home court the smallest in the conference, with the University of New Hampshire’s Lundholm Gymnasium, which holds 3,000, the second-smallest. When packed, the close quarters of The Roof, home to the men’s and women’s basketball teams, offer an undeniable advantage to the conference’s largest school.
“That’s something we try to use to our advantage,” said BU Director of Athletics Mike Lynch. “It’s hard in a pro sports city like Boston. That’s one of our challenges.”
But filling the gym has been a struggle for the Terriers. Lynch hopes the 1,205 who came out for the men’s basketball home opener against St. Bonaventure University on Friday are a sign of more fan support to come.
“The place was rocking,” Lynch said. “That’s the type of atmosphere we want to continue to grow.”
“I love the size of our gym,” said BU women’s basketball coach Kelly Greenberg. “You can feel the floor shake when it gets loud.”
Now in its 35th year, the gym does its best to hide its age. Named after former BU president Harold Case, the gym spans three courts flanking the center stage, with an audience on both sides and red theater-style seats that fold out on game days.
The BU band stakes its place in the corner of the folded seats nearest to the entrance (Section 1), forming a narrow but deep section that provides the heartbeat for the fans. The dance team and cheerleaders each take a baseline to call their own, while the students flock to Section 2.
Since the arrival of Agganis Arena in 2005, some teams, including the men’s hockey program, have jumped ship from Case Athletic Center to the state-of-the-art digs. The weight room in Case’s lower level, which used to be the university’s primary student gym, shut its doors when FitRec opened.
But members of the basketball and wrestling teams continue to call The Roof home, which means the gym is in use 14 hours each day, seven days a week, according to BU Facilities Director Alan Weinberger.
The long-term goal of BU Athletics and the basketball teams is to lessen the load on the dated facility by playing all home games at Agganis Arena, which boasts 7,200 seats for basketball, four times the capacity of Case.
Attendance, however, has held up the transition thus far. Put 1,000 people in a gym that seats 1,800 and the place can get pretty loud and give the home team a sizeable advantage. Those same 1,000 people scattered throughout a much bigger arena, however, dilutes the fan noise and erases the home-court advantage so pivotal in collegiate sports.
“If we can continue to increase student support [our goal is to move to Agganis],” Lynch said.
“Our goal is to play every game at Agganis,” Weinberger said. “But you don’t want to play a game at Agganis with only 1,000 people. You have to have a crowd. The St. Bonaventure game we had over 1,000 people, but it wouldn’t have had the same energy at Agganis. It comes down to if the students will come out.”
Both basketball teams currently play a limited schedule at Agganis. The men are scheduled to play two games there this season, while the women are slated for just one. The teams will host a doubleheader this Saturday at Agganis, when the women host Ohio State University at 4 p.m. before the men take on St. Joseph’s University at 7:30 p.m.
Playing at Agganis may give the Terriers a competitive disadvantage compared to playing a game at The Roof. Both teams practice at Case everyday, giving players a familiarity with the court that is lost once they enter Agganis. But the unfamiliarity is a hurdle the teams must adjust to if the administration decides to move the teams out of Case.
“Everything is so different for the team [when we play at Agganis],” Greenberg said. “It’s exciting for them. It doesn’t feel like home as much, but they know it’s a home game.”
Home may soon mean Agganis, especially with rumors that BU may jump to a bigger conference, such as the Atlantic 10, a move that would obviously necessitate a larger capacity home court
“There’s been a lot of chatter about [the conference switch],” Weinberger said.
If the basketball programs did move to Agganis, the teams would likely continue practicing at Case. Putting down the hardwood floor and subsequently removing it for the hockey team everyday would require quite a bit of effort, and the basketball squads would likely only be able to practice the day before a scheduled home game.
If the Terriers eventually leave the cozy confines of Case Gymnasium behind, they will be leaving a fair share of history behind. The Roof has hosted three men’s America East Tournament title games.
In 1997, Case held its first America East championship game and witnessed the top-seeded Terriers defeat Drexel University, 68-61, to advance to the NCAA Tournament. The 2002 season saw the second-seeded Terriers wallop the fifth-seeded University of Maine, 60-44, to give BU a perfect 2-0 record in finals held at Case.
Unfortunately, BU’s perfect record was erased the next year, when the University of Vermont squeaked out a 56-55 victory over the Terriers in the last title game at the gym to date.
With Agganis Arena’s opening, it’s unlikely Case will ever hold another championship game. But the bite-size gym will continue to see its fair share of regular season action. That is, until those 1,800 seats start to fill every night.